sorting 3904

inserted

Now try to imagine proofreading all of those numbers. I'm beginning to think you've never looked at a listing of data cards either. When a keypunch job involves entering 72 numbers-card, the gals are not going to waste their time also proofing sequence numbers. Even if they are working in a rich lab and have a verifier, a high priority job of 12,000 cards is not going to include typing 8 characters per card (which would be 16 characters if verified). This would be a waste of time. Sequence numbers were added later, if the "owner" of the deck deemed it necessary.

You do know that sequence numbers can be keypunched later to the same deck. The drum card was programmer to skip the field that contained the data and positioned the "pointer" over the first column of the sequence number field. Then you load the already punched deck, and did the sequence numbers. That is how sequence numbers were done. No experienced keypuncher would ever do sequence numbers until the deck owner had frozen the deck in "never shall be changed again" mode.

Do you always try to tell an experienced person how to do their job?

You have no idea what you are talking about.

BAH